This invention concerns body worn ornamentation and particularly pendant ornaments attached to a chain. Most ornaments require detachment of the chain ends to replace an ornament, and often the pendant is permanently attached to the chain to require the services of a jeweler to detach. It would be desirable to be able to more easily change the ornament than with the prior art arrangements. It is critical that any detachable mounting be very secure even after long use to insure that precious stones are not lost due to a failure of the means for attaching the pendant.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a pendant ornament which has a self contained detachable mounting for providing interchangeability of the pendant which very securely retains the pendant even after many pendant changes have been made.
The above object and others which will become understood upon a reading of the following specification and claims are achieved by a jewelry piece having an ornamental pendant and a pendant mounting including an ornamental hollow clasp housing from which the pendant is suspended.
Openings on either side of the top of the housing are provided to allow stringing the housing onto a supporting chain. A deflectable or hinged clasp element is mounted within the clasp housing and extends down to an open end of the clasp housing. The clasp housing is open at the back to allow the clasp element to be accessed to be released from a catch and to allow a loop or other pendant securement affixed to the pendant to be slid onto the clasp element which is then reengaged with the catch.
The pendant is then secured to the bottom end of the clasp housing, ready for convenient interchangeability with other pendants at any time.
The clasp element can take various forms including that of a resiliently deflectable or hinged hook receiving a loop fixed on the pendant, a slotted clevis which receives a mating pendant stem, or a headed pin fixed to the clasp housing.